Light weight foot supporting device



l W. M. SCHOLL LIGHT WEIGHT FOOT SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 21, 1957'If-Mig Dec. 22, 1959 United States Patent y 2,917,848 LIGHT WEIGHT FOOTSUPPORTING DEVICE William M. Scholl, Chicago, Ill. Application August21, 1957, serial No. 679,329

' 2 claims. (cl. 36-71) In the past, many and various forms of foot`suplporting devices have been developed7 but in most cases thesedevices were uncomfortably heavy andprovided an uncomfortable andirritating hard feeling against the foot of the user. In otherwords,these devices made the user conscious at all times' that his foot was incontact with a' relatively rigid and hard surface, particularly where alongitudinal or metatarsal arch supporting device was being used. lnorder to adequately support the foot upon a longitudinal arch lift, itis necessary that that lift be of sufficient strength and stiffness-,tocarry the body weight, although the lift may spring slightly with thebody weight. In addition, with these formerly known devices itfrequentlyoccurred that the longitudinal arch supporting lift or plateextendedy beneath` the heel of the user so that there was hardsurfacecontact of the heel at every step during walking. In short, while on hisfeet the user Was always aware 'thattherewas something bulky and hardwithin his shoe that'didno't normally belong there. r

With the foregoing in mind, it of the instant invention to provide alight weight foot supporting device that not only is capable of carryingthe load of the body in the region of support, but which also provides acushion to the foot of the userso that the discomfort of an arch lift isthereby minimized to a great extent. y

Another object of this invention is the provision of a foot supportingdevice embodying a relatively stiff lift is an important object member,but which device incorporates a sheet of` cushv v ioning material overthe lift member so while the desired effect is brought abou'tagainst thefoot vof .the

user, the user is not conscious` ofi-the device" being'pin Anotherfeature of the instant invention is the provision of a foot supportingdevice in the form of a longitudinal arch support, and wherein the rigidweight carrying element does not extend beneath the heel of the user. f

Also a feature of this invention resides in the provision of alongitudinal arch supporting device embodying a layer of cushioningmaterial which extends under the heel of the user and beneath which theweight carrying plate member may be disposed so that the users foot iscushioned on top of that member.

Still another feature of the instant invention resides in the provisionof a longitudinal arch supporting device having a removable weightcarrying plate, tne device also incorporating a layer of cushioningmaterial, whereby the device may be selectively changed from alongitudinal arch support to a cushion type insole at the will of theuser.

Still another object of the instant invention resides in the provisionof a foot supporting device comprising a pair of thermoplastic sheetswith a layerV of thermoplastic foam between them, the sheets and thelayer being secured together by heat seal seam around the boundingmargin of the structure, and also secured in a generally transverselyextending heat seal seam just in front of the heel seat portion of thedevice, the frontend of the device being open to freely receive an archlift therein.

Also a feature of the instant invention is` the provision of an archsupporting-device comprising a cover sheet, a bottom sheet, and a middlesheet of foam cushioning material which sheets are heat sealed togetheraround the bounding edges thereof Vexcept at the forward end, and alightweight plastic arch lift freely inserted in the forward end of thedevice underneath the' cushioning layer and above lthe bottom layer voraccompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a top' plan view of a foot supporting device embodyingprinciples of the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged transverse verticalr sectional view ofthe structure of Figure 1 taken substantially as indicated by the lineII-II of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows;

' Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantiallyas indicatedy by the line III- III of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a reduced top plan view of the structure illustrating howthe weight carrying member may be in- ;serted orremoved from theremainder of the device.

As shown on the drawings:

,v By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the

illustrated embodiment of the instant invention is shown in the form ofa longitudinal arch support for the foot.

However, the novel structure embodied in the instant invention may beincorporated in foot supporting devices vof different shapes and Ystylesand the weight car'- rying lift member may be in the form of ametatarsal support Or various other types of lifts may be included inthe device, it not being essential that the device be Imade only in theshapevdisclosed and for the purpose of supporting thelongitudinal archof the foot.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention includes a cover sheet 1, abottom sheet 2, and an intermediate sheet or layer 3. The top and bottomsheets may satis- -factorily be thermoplastic unsupported film, such as.a

4polyvinyl chloride film, while the middle sheet 3 isy preferably in theform of a thermoplastic foam and iS thicker than either the top orbottom sheet to function as a cushioning medium for the foot.

The foam sheet 3 may also be a polyvinyl chloride foam, and asatisfactory example of material is a vinyl foam made from a liquidcomposition generally known as a plastisol. This plastisol is expandedpreferably by the use of an inert gas, and then cured in the expandedcondition to provide a light weight structural material which is highlyflexible, resilient, has intercommunicating cells for ventilativepurposes, and has magnificent restorative powers. The plastisol itselfmay satisfactorily be a dispersion or suspension of polyvinyl chlorideresin, or a copolymer in one or more plastisizers selected from a largenumber of high boiling esters, for example, such as dioctyl phthalate,dioctyl adipate, dicapryl phthalate, etc, 'l'he top and bottom sheetsare made of the same accessible at the front of the device.

general material and are not subjected to the expanding process, but onthe contrary the resins and plasticizers are charged directly into a'Banbury mill and from there passed to a calender which rolls out thefinished product. Consequently, the top and bottom sheets areconsiderably denser than the foam cushioning intermediate sheet.

It will be understood, of course, that other materials may be utilizedfor the production of the top and bottom sheets as well as thethermoplastic foam cushioning sheet, it being only necessary thatsuitable substances be utilized which are of such character thatthey maybe heat sealed together. This heat sealing is preferably by Way ofthehigh frequency electronic process, but other means-of heat sealing mightbe employed.

The three sheets 1, 2 and 3 are joined together by heat seal seam `4around the bounding edge of the device, this seam extending along bothsides and across the rear,`but there is no seam at the front, thefrontend of the device being left open so as to provide an interior pocket Atransverse seam 5 is also provided uniting the three layers togetherjust in front of the heel seat portion of the device, but it will vbenoted that the cushion'layer 3 extends completely to the rear end of thedevice so as to underlie the heel of the user and give a cushioningeffect. With nothing placed in the pocket between the layers, the devicewill function as a cushion vtype insole and in the illustrated instancethe device extends from beneath the heel of the user to a positionadjacent the metatarsal arch, the first and fifth metatarsal headspreferably falling upon the device, while the toes or phalanges extendbeyond the forward end of the device, thereby providing 'ample toe roomwithin the shoe in which the device is located.

Itv should also be noted that the three layers are preferably notsecured to leach other in any location except at the heat seal seams 4and 5, whereby objectionable wriniiling or buckling of the device doesnot occur in use because relative movement between the respective layersis always present except at the seams 4 and 5.

In order to render arch supporting aid, a lift 6which is preferably alight thermoplastic material of sufficient rigidity and strength tocarry the weight, may be slipped into the pocket through the front endof the device'. Preferably, this lift is disposed between the foamcushion sheet 3 and the bottom sheet 2. Thus, a cushioning effect to thefoot is provided and the foot does not contact a relatively rigid andhard surface, but is given a comfortable cushion type resting placenotwithstanding the fact that there is adequate arch supportingstructure therebeneath.

The lift 6 is preferably contoured in keeping with the plantar surfaceof a normal foot, and therefore, as seen in Figure 2, has a concaveupper surface in the intermediate region, although the entire lift isbowed upwardly lengthwise as seen best in Figure 3. It is also readilyapparent that the lift 6 does not extend beneath'the heel of the user sothere is no hard surface for contact by the os calcis when walking, theheel of the user only contacting the padded heel portion of the deviceto the rear of the seal seam 5 which limits the inward disposition ofthe insert or lift 6. As seen in Figure 4, a lift or plate 6 may easilybe slipped into the pocket or removed therefrom as may be desired by theuser.

The entire device is extremely light in weight and may be provided inany desirable color or combination of colors. In use, there is always acomfortable cushioning feel to the foot of the user and in most caseseven when walking, the usei will be unconscious of the fact thatsomething out of the ordinary has been disposed in his shoe. Inaddition, it will be noted that the device is long lived by Virtue ofthe heat seal seam and may be made decorative by having the heat sealseams simulate stitching as illustrated in the drawing. Further, thestructure is economical to manufacture and use, since it is readilyinterchangeable from one article of footwear to another, and since itmay be utilized as a cushion type insole after the wearer does not anylonger need the plate 6.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

l. In an arch supporting device, thin upper and lower sheets ofthermoplastic material, an intermediate sheet of thermoplastic foam, allsaid sheets being of equal area and secured together by a heat seal seamalong the bounding vedge `of the device, a light weight andcomparatively rigid arch supporting element between the foam sheet andone of the other sheets, and a transverse heat seal seam joining allsaid sheets in front of the heel seat of the device and behind saidelement to confine said element to the central and forepart of thedevice.

2. In an arch supporting device to underlie the foot from the rear ofthe heel to the metatarsal arch, upper and lower thermoplastic sheetsjoined by a heat seal seam at the bounding edge of the device, a sheetof cushioning material between said sheets in the heel portion of thedevice, said upper and lower sheets also connected by a transverse heatseal seam in front of the heel seat of the device, and a plastic lightweight and comparatively rigid arch supporting insert between said upperand lower sheets and confined to the forepart of the device by saidtransverse heat seal seam.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,270,003 Carling June 18, 1918 1,272,994y Phelps July 16, 19181,488,596 Gash Apr. 1, 1924 2,487,691 Boos Nov. 8, 1949 2,495,045Woodbury Jan. 17, 1950 2,658,288 Scholl Nov. 10, 1953 OTHER REFERENCESModern Plastics Periodical, November 1954, pp. 106- 108 and 214-216.Plastic Digest.

